November 22, 2019

How to Wisely Anchor Your Homeschool Day

November 22, 2019/ Erin Cox

This is a guest post from Leah Hudson! It has amazing encouragement and wisdom. Find out how to hear more from Leah at the bottom of the post.

When I started homeschooling my oldest, I compared the anticipation to jumping off a cliff into a vast ocean. From my pre-homeschool vantage point, I could see countless other women bobbing up and down in the waves—obviously keeping afloat. Some had even fashioned together trim little boats for their crews. Their success gave me encouragement to take the plunge.

I dove in.

Who knew kindergarten could be so overwhelming? Who knew adjusting to new routines would prove so difficult? I needed to get my sea legs FAST!

That first year was hard. I problem-solved my way through it. And I hoped that someday I could be one of those other homeschool moms who had “figured it out.”

November 08, 2019

When God Changes Your Homeschool Plans

November 08, 2019/ Amy Redelsperger

The alarm labeled “It’s Co-op Day!” goes off at 6:00 a.m. Thankfully, the coffee pot also automatically starts at 6:00 a.m. I’m not a morning person, so, in all honesty, the next step in my morning routine is hitting the snooze button. Lunches have been packed the night before and the kids are old enough to get themselves breakfast, so as I grab that first cup of coffee I take a moment to sit in the dark, pray over the day ahead, get snuggles from my dog, and let my brain wake up a bit.

Then we hit the day running. Everyone out the door by 7:35 a.m. to be on time.

November 04, 2019

A Peak Inside a Relaxed Preschool + Kindergarten Rhythm

November 04, 2019/ Kim Camargo

This is a guest post written by Kim! I hope you enjoy all of her encouragement and insight as she details a typical homeschool day with her two little ones. Find out more about Kim below.

With two boys, three and five, our days are usually full of a lot of energy, a lot of noise, and a whole lot of crazy. When it comes to our daily homeschooling, I have been slowly introducing a gentle learning environment for both boys since they are both still young.

When I first began to plan our official homeschool “Kindergarten” year, I was already (almost unconsciously) trying to recreate a public school environment. I was already beginning to forget the freedom homeschooling allows in learning. While planning, I was trying to check all the boxes and tick all the subjects. I was trying to figure out how to cram all of this material into one day… for a five year old!

October 29, 2019

The Charlotte Mason Method in a Single Parent Home

October 29, 2019/ Tia McArthur

This article is a guest post by Tia McArthur. You can learn more about Tia and find her online via the information at the end of this post. I hope you’ll find Tia’s words a comfort and encouragement!

As a single mom with a small business that is a full-time ministry, homeschooling looks a lot different in our home than many others. Finding balance to implement the feast that is a Charlotte Mason (CM) education while also providing our sole source of income is the most rewarding challenge of my life. Like family dinners, this feast is often messy and loud and one of us often wants to take our favorite dish/book off to a corner somewhere. But this time spent together is weaving a fabric of memories for us both to treasure for a lifetime, just like those family dinners from my childhood.

October 14, 2019

What I Learned When I Quit Homeschooling

October 14, 2019/ Erin Cox

Just over 3 years ago, I was 4-5 months pregnant with my very welcomed but highly surprising 4th child. At that time, my 3rd was still shy of his FIRST birthday, and I had a daughter going into junior high and one struggling greatly due to dyslexia and dyscalculia.

As a new school year loomed large, I was overwhelmed. As a matter of fact, I was CERTAIN that I could NOT do it. I could NOT successfully homeschool my two girls with any sort of excellence while wrangling a newborn and tiny toddler. I went to the Lord with my great overwhelm. Shockingly, to us and everyone around us, my husband and I felt completely led to put our two girls in the local public school.

July 23, 2019

Dash into Reading Review- Why I love it soooo much!

July 23, 2019/ Erin Cox

We’ve used Bob Books for years. For me, they were a great, level-appropriate complement to All About Reading that gave us additional fluency practice. I always appreciated how simple the reading was… but let’s be honest—my kids were never exactly enthusiastic to read about Bob and all his weird, pointless shenanigans.

So when I first stumbled across Dash into Reading on Instagram, I was intrigued. What held me back initially was the idea that it’s designed to be used as a full phonics program (which it absolutely can be!). But once I reached out to Amelia (the author), she assured me that many families were using them alongside All About Reading. Since my experience with AAR has been so solid, I wasn’t really looking for a replacement—but as a companion? That had my attention.

Amelia sweetly sent me Set 1 for an honest review, and we were thrilled. Here’s what stood out most: